Generative AI and “nudify” apps

Matt Burgess, from Wired.com (on arstechnica):

Major technology companies, including Google, Apple, and Discord, have been enabling people to quickly sign up to harmful “undress” websites, which use AI to remove clothes from real photos to make victims appear to be “nude” without their consent. More than a dozen of these deepfake websites have been using login buttons from the tech companies for months.

A WIRED analysis found 16 of the biggest so-called undress and “nudify” websites using the sign-in infrastructure from Google, Apple, Discord, Twitter, Patreon, and Line. This approach allows people to easily create accounts on the deepfake websites—offering them a veneer of credibility—before they pay for credits and generate images.

While bots and websites that create nonconsensual intimate images of women and girls have existed for years, the number has increased with the introduction of generative AI. This kind of “undress” abuse is alarmingly widespread, with teenage boys allegedly creating images of their classmates. Tech companies have been slow to deal with the scale of the issues, critics say, with the websites appearing highly in search results, paid advertisements promoting them on social media, and apps showing up in app stores.

This is another reason why women and girls in general, shouldn’t post their photos online. The fitna is already there even if the photos aren’t sexualized, but this is a whole other level of just destroying a girls reputation. 

Imagine if this became rampant in the Muslim community? It would just be a huge mess, with families’ reputations being tarnished and girls being slandered against left and right. Imagine a high school or middle school boy liking a muslim girl in school, and trying this feature on her. She may not even be one who posts photos online and might not even be involved in social media, but anyone can just take your photo these days and do whatever they want with it. 

This is a continuation of a trend that normalizes sexual violence against women and girls by Big Tech,” says Adam Dodge, a lawyer and founder of EndTAB (Ending Technology-Enabled Abuse). “Sign-in APIs are tools of convenience. We should never be making sexual violence an act of convenience,” he says. “We should be putting up walls around the access to these apps, and instead we're giving people a drawbridge.

Putting up walls around access to the apps might stop a few people, but those who really want to nudify someone will find a way to nudify them. 

Muslim parents should take heed and address these issues with their children, especially if they have cell phones and are on social media. 

The one who remembers Allah versus, “one of the swearers.”

We were stopped at a traffic light, and all of a sudden, we got struck in the rear by another vehicle. 

There was a sudden moment of panic between me and the other brother next to me, and there were 2 different reactions to this accident.

One person said a form of dhikr, either "La Ilaha Il Allah!" or "Allahu Akbar!" (I can't remember which one.)

and the other person said, "Mother f***ker!"

My goal here is not to boast or anything, but I was the one who said a form of dhikr, and the person next to me was the one swearing. If this had happened back when I was a lot younger though, I would also have been, "one of the swearers."

Imagine being known as, "one of the swearers."

What if we had died that day? One of us would have ended with the dhikr of Allah, and the other one would have ended his life with an expletive. 

Subhan Allah!

The question we have to ask ourselves is, what will we say on our death bed?

It is easy to say that I will say the shahadah on my death bed, but what guarantee do you have that you will die a slow death in a hospital bed, where you know the end is near?

How do you know that you won't just go suddenly in an accident, just like so many people have gone?

The irony of this whole situation is that we were actually on our way back home after a funeral burial!

Not only that, but the person who passed away was a close relative of mine, who died unexpectedly in his own home. 

Once again, Subhan Allah!

We have the blessing of always remembering Allah throughout our day, and we don't need to be in the state of wudhu to remember Him. You can say all the dhikr you want, at anytime!

Keep your tongue moist with the dhikr of Allah, and get rid of the filth that you have been saying. 

The sooner you start, the better you will become at remembering Allah.

Think about it, when you restrain your tongue, that action in and of itself is a remembrance of Allah! You're doing it so you don't displease Him and accumulate sins.

Remember, it takes years to condition yourself to say dhikr at moments of sudden hardship and pain.

It will not happen overnight! I am talking from experience. 

Just like the questions in the grave. We all know the answers, but our actions and our level of faith will determine whether or not we can actually answer those questions when we are 6 feet under. 

Saying dhikr at times of difficulty and at times of ease is a Sunnah, and it is an easy one that we can implement in our lives. 

Imagine dying while swearing, acquiring a sin and displeasing Allah at your last moment.

Audhubillah..

Now imagine the opposite, where you die remembering Allah as your last words. You will die doing a Sunnah and remembering Alllah at the same time!

Allahu Akbar!

The choice is yours, and it is up to you to work on yourself so you can have a good ending to your life. 

The more you strive towards Allah, the more you will remember Allah, the more dhikr you will do, and when life hits you with a ton of bricks (or with the front end of a car!), then in sha Allah, you will be conditioned to praise Allah instead of displeasing Allah.

Remember what the Prophet (peace be upon him) said about the consequences of the tongue:

"O Messenger of Allah! Shall we really be accounted for what we talk about?" He replied, "May your mother lose you O Muadh! People will be thrown on their faces into Hell on account of their tongues."

Sunan Ibn Majah, 3973

At the same time, the tongue can lead you to Paradise: 

It was narrated that Mu’aadh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say,: “If a person’s last words are Laa ilaaha ill-Allah, Paradise will be guaranteed for him.”

Narrated by Ahmad, 21529

May Allah allow all of us to have a good ending to our lives, Ameen.

With the power of A.I. how can you verify your loved ones are alive?

Sarah Jeong from The Verge:

The persistent cry of “Fake News!” from Trumpist quarters presaged the beginning of this era of unmitigated bullshit, in which the impact of the truth will be deadened by the firehose of lies. The next Abu Ghraib will be buried under a sea of AI-generated war crime snuff. The next George Floyd will go unnoticed and unvindicated….

We briefly lived in an era in which the photograph was a shortcut to reality, to knowing things, to having a smoking gun. It was an extraordinarily useful tool for navigating the world around us. We are now leaping headfirst into a future in which reality is simply less knowable. The lost Library of Alexandria could have fit onto the microSD card in my Nintendo Switch, and yet the cutting edge of technology is a handheld telephone that spews lies as a fun little bonus feature. 

Having AI to alter photos is great for when you take a family photo so you can remove some inappropriately dressed people in the background.

Like all new technologies though, the most obvious danger that Sarah alludes to is using AI to start new wars, cause mass distrust from people, and just the overall mass speculation of society about anything.

Who can you trust, when any image can be created and altered to your narrative?

Here are some sample photos from the article, in order to avoid looking at some of the impermissible ones:

Could AI be the next thing that brings back old-school lifestyles, where people will cherish having the in-person experience, versus assuming a video or a person they are talking to is a real individual?

Will we reach a point where actually traveling to meet your loved ones will be the only way we can verify their existence?

With how false chatGPT can be in giving you answers about Islam, will you trust any AI source with your religion?

There are just so many questions that need to be answered, but no one can deny that living the experience will be something people will cherish more than anything.

Having a mufti that you study under will be more valuable than a remote experience.

Visiting family will be a reassurance that yes, they do still exist, and they are alive!

The wonders of technology will make us once again “regress” to old ways of in-person experiences, and perhaps to a certain degree, that may be a good thing.

The path to that point however, might not be so easy.

You’re not wasting time if you’re doing stuff with your kids.

Yesterday, I had a plan.

I was going to workout after work, no matter what.

I just had to.

It has been a few days and I knew I needed the workout.

Did I want to do it? Of course not.

But it has to be done.

After Asr prayer, it’s time to hit the “home gym.”

I got back home later than usual from work, and the next thing I know, my driveway has turned into a giant bike repair shop.

My 7 year old’s training wheels weren’t working properly, so I had to fix them.

My 12 year old’s bike handles were loose and swinging up and down which should not be happening, but we were able to tighten them up with a simple Allen wrench.

My 10 year old didn’t have any serious issues with his bike. Yeah, his rear brakes are completely shot, but his front brakes worked well enough to compensate. It’s not like he’s running the Tour de France anyway.

Anyway, he wanted to put on new brakes for his rear wheel, and he got me involved in this project. I thought this would be a good father and son time, fixing things together, and it was.

Did it take exceptionally longer than expected?

Of course it did.

There were moments where I just wanted to stop and tell him to just forget about it right now, but I wanted to show my son that quitting isn’t an option, especially when it is something that is achievable. We kept on pushing and running into roadblocks trying to find the right balance between the brake spacers and the length of the brake wire, but after what seemed like a few hours, we finally figured it out.

There were moments where my son had to hold onto the brakes at a certain angle while I tightened the bolts, but his grip was not strong enough to keep the brakes in place and we would have to keep making adjustments. I could see the expression on his face, that expression of wanting to accomplish the goal, but also not wanting to disappoint his father who has told him several times to hold the brakes in place.

Seeing that expression on his face just made me calm down a few notches, and gave him more encouragement to keep pushing and having him feel that sense of accomplishment after we finally solved the problem.

It was great teamwork from the both of us to finally get the brakes on correctly, and he had a test drive to confirm it was a success.

We both had a nice bonding moment, just working together and fixing the bike.

Was it a waste of time? Of course not, because I was hanging out with my son, and I was able to help my daughters have a good time riding their bikes in this nice fall weather.

After all was said and done, it was Maghrib time, and I just didn’t feel like working out. I was exhausted from my 9-5 (or 8-4 in my case), and I just hustled out 40 pushups so I can say that I at least did some physical activity.

Sometimes things don’t go the way you want them, but you can always turn a chore into a learning and bonding session with your kids.

Lessons learned:

1. Don’t give up when it comes to things that are actually achievable. Struggling is a part of life, and will eventually lead to success.

2. Don’t always assume a new project will be over quickly. Always budget extra time.

3. Be patient with your children. They look up to you and want to please you, so don’t let your anger ruin those special moments and turn them into regretful memories.

4. If you can’t do a full workout, do something quick and fast to get some physical activity in for the day.